Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh controlled parts of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, including its capital Stepanakert. It had been an enclave within Azerbaijan from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive, when the Azerbaijani military took control over the remaining territory controlled by Artsakh, resulting in the effective expulsion of the entire population. Its only overland access route to Armenia after the 2020 war was via the five-kilometre-wide (3.1 mi) Lachin corridor, which was placed under the supervision of Russian peacekeeping forces.
The predominantly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh was claimed by both the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia when both countries became independent in 1918 after the fall of the Russian Empire. A brief war over the region broke out in 1920. The dispute was largely shelved after the Soviet Union established control over the area, and created the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923; however, throughout the Soviet period, Armenians in the NKAO were heavily discriminated against. The Soviet Azerbaijani authorities worked to suppress Armenian culture and identity in Nagorno-Karabakh, pressured Armenians to leave the region and encouraged Azerbaijanis to settle within it, although Armenians remained the majority population.
The local Armenians of the area, motivated by fears of cultural and physical erasure under government policies from Azerbaijan, began the 1988 Karabakh movement advocating for reunification (Miatsum) with Armenia. This was met with extreme violence from Azerbaijani authorities and civilians, escalating tensions and culminating in a referendum in 1991 which overwhelmingly opted for independence. The conflict erupted into a full-out war in 1992. The war was won by Artsakh with support from Armenia. Although a ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994, the frozen situation left the predominantly Armenian-populated territory de facto independent, with a self-proclaimed government in Stepanakert, but still heavily reliant on and closely integrated with Armenia, in many ways functioning as a de facto part of Armenia. Even though Armenia never officially recognised the region's independence, it became the main financial and military supporter of the territory. In 2017, a referendum in the area approved a new constitution that transformed the system of government from a semi-presidential to a presidential democracy with a unicameral legislature in addition to changing the name of the state from the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Artsakh, although both names remained official.
From 1994 until 2020, Armenian and Azerbaijani troops remained separated by a contested line of contact which saw sporadic deadly incidents during the intervening years. In 2020, a new war was fought in the region, with Azerbaijan achieving victory and regaining all the surrounding occupied districts and a significant portion of Artsakh's claimed territory. The Lachin corridor linking Artsakh to Armenia was blockaded by Azerbaijan in December 2022. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched another military offensive. The government of Artsakh agreed to disarm and enter talks with Azerbaijan, resulting in the expulsion of all ethnic Armenians from the area. On 28 September 2023, the president of Artsakh signed a decree to dissolve all of the republic's institutions by 1 January 2024, though the president later attempted to annul this decree. By 1 October 2023, almost the entire population of the region had fled to Armenia, marking the end of a millennia-old Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Etymology
According to scholars, inscriptions dating to the Urartian period mention the region under a variety of names: "Ardakh", "Urdekhe", and "Atakhuni". In his Geography, the classical historian Strabo refers to an Armenian region which he calls "Orchistene", which is believed by some to be a Greek version of the old name of Artsakh.
According to another hypothesis put forth by David M. Lang, the ancient name of Artsakh possibly derives from the name of King Artaxias I of Armenia (190–159 BC), founder of the Artaxiad dynasty and the kingdom of Greater Armenia.
Folk etymology holds that the name is derived from "Ar" (Aran) and "tsakh" (woods, garden) (i.e., the gardens of Aran Sisakean, the first nakharar of northeastern Armenia).
The name "Nagorno-Karabakh", commonly used in English, comes from the Russian name which means "Mountainous Karabakh". Karabakh is a Turkish/Persian word thought to mean "black garden". The Azerbaijani name for the area, "Dağlıq Qarabağ", has the same meaning as the Russian name. The term "Artsakh" lacks the non-Armenian influences present in "Nagorno-Karabakh". Artsakh was revived for use in the 19th century, and was the preferred term used by the population, in English and Russian as well as Armenian. "Mountainous Karabakh" was sometimes employed directly as part of the official English name, "Republic of Mountainous Karabakh". This reflected an attempt to shift away from the negative associations thought linked with "Nagorno-Karabakh" due to the war.
History
Dissolution of the USSR; First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994)
In the lead-up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was revitalised. In 1987–88, a mass movement started in Nagorno-Karabakh and Soviet Armenia calling on the Soviet authorities to transfer the region to Armenia, citing self-determination laws in the Soviet constitution. Starting with the pogrom against Armenians in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait in February 1988, the conflict became increasingly violent, and attempts by Moscow to resolve the dispute failed. In summer 1988, the legislatures of Soviet Armenia and the NKAO passed resolutions declaring the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, which were rejected by Azerbaijani and central Soviet authorities.
Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 30 August 1991, and Azerbaijan formally achieved its sovereignty following a referendum on 21 September 1991. Later, on 27 November 1991, the parliament revoked the autonomous status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, prompting local leaders to call for a referendum on independence from Azerbaijan on 10 December 1991. The result saw approximately 99 percent of ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region vote for separation. Artur Mkrtchyan was chosen as president of the Nagorno-Karabakh region following parliamentary elections on 28 December 1991. On 2 January 1992, President Ayaz Mutallibov of Azerbaijan placed the Nagorno-Karabakh region under direct presidential control, and Nagorno-Karabakh formally declared its independence from Azerbaijan on 6 January 1992.
The declaration was rejected by newly independent Azerbaijan, leading to the outbreak of full-scale war with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh on one side and Azerbaijan on the other. The First Nagorno-Karabakh War ended with a ceasefire in May 1994, with Armenian forces controlling practically the entire territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast as well as most of seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan. According to UNHCR, the conflict resulted in over 600,000 internally displaced people within Azerbaijan.
De facto post-war independence (1994–2020)
The Republic of Artsakh became a de facto independent country, though closely integrated with Armenia, while its territory remained internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Professor Matt Qvortrup considered it hypocritical that Western Europe countries had eagerly recognised the succession of several states from Yugoslavia, ignoring the laws of territorial integrity, but simultaneously did not show the same interest for the Nagorno-Karabakh referendum, noting "the practice of independence referendums seemingly owes more to national interest than to adherence to principles of jurisprudence".
Intermittent fighting over the region continued after the 1994 ceasefire without significant territorial changes, while long-standing international mediation attempts to create a peace process were initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group in 1994.
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020), Azerbaijan gains
On 27 September 2020, a war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Artsakh. Fighting continued until November, and Azerbaijan recaptured territories, primarily in the southern part of the region, as well as the strategic town of Shushi. A ceasefire agreement signed on 10 November 2020 between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia declared an end to the renewed fighting, and established that Armenia would withdraw from remaining occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh over the next month. The agreement included provisions for a Russian peacekeeping force to deploy to the region, with Russian President Vladimir Putin stating that the ceasefire agreement would "create the conditions for a long-term settlement". The war may have claimed thousands of lives.
Aftermath of 2020 war
After the 2020 war, the Republic of Artsakh maintained control over the areas of the former oblast that had not been captured during the war.
In 2021, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia held a trilateral meeting about Artsakh. This was expected to be the first of a regular series of meetings between the three countries, per an agreement to promote economic and infrastructure development throughout the region.
Blockade (2022–2023)
In December 2022, Azerbaijanis claiming to be environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. On 23 April 2023, Azerbaijani forces installed a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor. The blockade led to a humanitarian crisis for the population in Artsakh; imports of essential goods were blocked, as well as humanitarian convoys of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers, trapping the 120,000 residents of the region. Limited traffic was conducted by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross to transport patients in need of medical care and provide humanitarian supplies. However, from 15 June 2023, Azerbaijan intensified the blockade, blocking all passage of food, fuel, and medicine from the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers through the Lachin corridor.
2023 Azerbaijani offensive, exodus, and dissolution
On 19 September, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive into Artsakh-controlled territory. The following day, the government of the Republic of Artsakh agreed to disarm and a ceasefire took effect. Initial negotiations between representatives of the Karabakh Armenian community and the Government of Azerbaijan took place on 21 September in Yevlakh to discuss security, rights and "integration". The talks, which lasted two hours, ended without a formal agreement; however, a statement by Azerbaijani Presidency said that they were "constructive and positive" and that further negotiations would continue. On 24 September, a mass evacuation of ethnic-Armenian civilians started, fearing persecution and ethnic cleansing if they remained. A second round of negotiations between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijan took place in Khojaly on 25 September, where humanitarian issues were discussed. A third meeting between took place in Yevlakh on 29 September.
On 28 September, Artsakh president Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree stating that all state institutions would be dissolved by 1 January 2024, bringing the existence of the republic to an end. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited the region on 15 October, and officially raised the flag of Azerbaijan at the building that was previously used as the Artsakh Presidential Palace. On 22 December 2023, Shahramanyan said that there was no official document stipulating the dissolution of government institutions, and his office stated that it was "empty paper".
Geography
The Artsakh Republic was mountainous, a feature which has given it its former name (from the Russian for "Mountainous/Highland Karabakh"). It is 3,170 km2 (1,220 sq mi) in area. The largest water body is the Sarsang Reservoir, and the major rivers are the Tartar and Khachen rivers. The country is on a plateau which slopes downwards towards the east and southeast, with the average altitude being 1,100 m (3,600 ft) above sea level. Most rivers in the country flow towards the Artsakh Valley.
Geology
The geology of Artsakh is primarily part of the Kussary-Divichi Foredeep – the northern foredeep of the Greater Caucasus. The trough is filled with Oligocene to Quaternary age deepwater, molasse, and marine sedimentary rocks.
Climate
The climate is mild and temperate. The average temperature is 11 °C (52 °F), which fluctuates annually between 22 °C (72 °F) in July and −1 °C (30 °F) in January. The average precipitation can reach 710 mm (28 in) in some regions, and it is foggy for over 100 days a year.
Flora
Over 2,000 plant species exist in Artsakh, and more than 36% of the country is forested. The flora on the steppes consists mostly of semi-desert vegetation, while subalpine zone, and alpine tundra ecosystems can be found above the forest in the highlands and mountains.
Government and politics
Artsakh was a unitary presidential democracy (transformed from a semi-presidential one, after the 2017 referendum). The Prime Minister's post was abolished and executive power resided with the President, who was both the head of state and head of government. The president was directly elected for a maximum of two-consecutive five-year terms. The last President was Samvel Shahramanyan.
The National Assembly was a unicameral legislature. It had 33 members who were elected for 5-year terms. Elections took place within a multi-party system; in 2009, the US NGO Freedom House ranked the Republic of Artsakh above the republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan with respect to civil and political rights. Five parties had members in the parliament: the Free Motherland party had 15 members, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation had 8 members, Democratic Party of Artsakh had 7 members, Movement 88 had 2 members and the National Revival party had one member. A number of non-partisan candidates had also taken part in the elections, with some success; in 2015, two of the 33 members to the National Assembly took their seats without running under the banner of any of the established political parties in the republic. Elections in Artsakh were not recognised by the European Union, the United States, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as well as numerous other countries, who called them a source of increased tensions.
Artsakh was heavily dependent on Armenia, and in many ways de facto functioned and was administered as part of Armenia. However, Armenia was hesitant to officially recognise Artsakh.
Constitution
The founding documents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were the Proclamation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Declaration of State Independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. For a long time no constitution was created, with the republic instead declaring Armenian law applied on its territory through a 1992 law. Even when new laws were passed, they were often copies of equivalent Armenian laws.
On 3 November 2006, the then-president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Arkadi Ghukasyan, signed a decree to hold a referendum on a draft Nagorno-Karabakh constitution. It was held on 10 December of the same year and according to official preliminary results, with a turnout of 87.2%, as many as 98.6% of voters approved the constitution. The first article of the document described the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, alternatively called the Republic of Artsakh, as "a sovereign, democratic state based on social justice and the rule of law." More than 100 non-governmental international observers and journalists who monitored the poll evaluated it positively, stating that it was held to a high international standard.
However, the vote was criticised harshly by the EU, OSCE, and GUAM, which rejected the referendum, deeming it illegitimate. The EU announced it was "aware that a 'constitutional referendum' has taken place," but emphasised its stance that only a negotiated settlement between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians could bring a lasting solution. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis asserted that the poll "will not be recognized... and is therefore of no consequence".
In a statement, the OSCE chairman in office Karel De Gucht voiced his concern that the vote would prove harmful to the ongoing conflict settlement process, which, he said, had shown "visible progress" and was at a "promising juncture".
The holding of the referendum was also criticised by Turkey, which traditionally supports Azerbaijan because of common ethnic Turkic roots, and has historically had severe tensions with Armenia.
Another referendum was held on 20 February 2017, with an 87.6% vote in favour on a 76% turnout for instituting a new constitution. This constitution among other changes turned the government from a semi-presidential to a fully presidential model. Its name was changed from "Constitution of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic" to "Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh", though both remained official names of the country. The referendum was seen as a response to the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes.
Administrative divisions
Artsakh was divided into seven provinces and one special administrative city. According to its authorities, it consisted of the territories in which the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was proclaimed in 1991: the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), the Shahumyan Region and the Getashen subdistrict; and those territories that formed part of the Republic of Artsakh before the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. Also claimed by Artsakh was the Shahumyan Region of the Azerbaijan SSR, which has been under Azerbaijani control since the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. While the Shahumyan Region was not part of the NKAO, representatives from Shahumyan declared independence along with the Oblast, and the proclamation of Artsakh includes the Shahumyan region within its borders.
After the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, an agreement was signed according to which most of the controlled territories of the Republic of Artsakh were transferred to Azerbaijani control, but the Republic of Artsakh continues to claim these territories.
Following the Republic of Artsakh's declaration of independence, the Azerbaijani government abolished the NKAO and created Azerbaijani districts in its place. As a result, some of Artsakh's divisions corresponded with the Azerbaijani districts, while others had different borders.
Law enforcement
Law enforcement in Artsakh was inconsistent, as the region was a de facto independent republic and officially part of Azerbaijan. Law enforcement in Nagorno-Karabakh was the responsibility of the Interior Ministry and the NSS.
The Security Council (Armenian: Անվտանգության խորհուրդ, romanized: Anvtangut’yan khorhurd) was the highest decision-making defence and law enforcement body in the Republic of Artsakh.
The following served as secretaries of the council:
Vitaly Balasanyan (November 2016 – November 2019)
Samvel Babayan (29 May 2020 – 10 November 2020)
Vitaly Balasanyan (December 2020 – 7 January 2023)
Ararat Melkumyan (January 7–16, 2023)
Samvel Shahramanyan (March 2023 - 10 September 2023)
Police of Artsakh
After the annexation of Artsakh to the Azerbaijan SSR, on 4 August 1923, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the NKAO was established. In the years following the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the Republic of Artsakh created its own police force. In 2001, the National Assembly's law "On Police" was adopted on 30 November 2006. On 11 March 2014, Police Day in Artsakh was declared for 16 April. The police force followed an organisation similar to that of the Police of Armenia.